At the SCC, supportive therapy, which is to give preventive care and treatment for intolerable symptoms of cancer and side effects from treatment, has been practiced as one of the three therapeutic principles in addition to anti-cancer therapy and palliative care since when it started in 2002. What is offered at the “Supportive Therapy Center” includes collaborative care and guidance with the Divisions of Rehabilitation Medicine and Oral Surgery, producing informative brochures and videos on what patients need to know before starting cancer treatments, and placing them where patients can easily access to.
In order to practice “supportive therapy” in more patient-friendly manners, a part of the Chemotherapy Center was remodeled and the office previously called the treatment center was rebadged as the “Supportive Therapy Center” on August 29, 2016. Since then, about 65 patients a day have come to visit the center. The Supportive Therapy Center integrates all of the supportive therapies practiced at various clinical departments in the SCC, and also supports patients taking cancer treatments while living at their homes, as the activities of the center are basically focused on alleviating “physical pains” to support living with the disease.
The newly-remodeled center is designed to protect patients’ privacies with 14 beds in private treatment rooms and 2 beds in the private consultation rooms. Full-time nurses and well-trained certified nurses are there to help patients, and collaborative supports with the Patient and Family Support Center, oncology specialists and nurses, dieticians, pharmacists, the rehabilitation team and the oral care team are also available there. When inquiries about how to handle medical equipment or how to control eating, clothing and housing during cancer therapies, the guidance and directions will be provided not only for patients and their families but also for home-visiting nurses.
